Pav Bhaji -homemade yet streetwise

Pav Bhaji hardly needs any introduction. It is one of the most popular street foods in Maharashtra, originating in the city of Bombay. It is said ( several internet sources) that mill workers in the 60s hardly got enough time to have any proper food during their short breaks. And Pav bhaji was born.

Pav bhaji is made with a melange of vegetables, typically potatoes, cauliflower, green peas, peppers and tomatoes, a bunch of spices, and a slab of butter. Everything is mashed up really good and this is dished up with dinner rolls fried or toasted in butter. I remember when the first Pav bhaji cart showed up in our city. It was everyone's favourite thing. I think the winning factor here is the unique spicy taste, the tang - coming from loads of tomatoes and fresh squeezed lemons, and the butter which clogs the arteries but lifts your senses.

I have typically made many healthier versions of this, using Country crock or 'I can' believe..' type spreads, and lotsa of different kinds of veggies. But this one is true to its street roots. Please feel free to add any other veggies you like, or use margarine or butter substitutes.

I have also made my own dry spice mix here, instead of using the standard Everest or Badshah pav bhaji masala. It makes a big difference and is worth a try.

The recipe is as follows -

Ingredients -

potatoes - 4-5 medium

tomatoes - 4-5 roma or vine ripe

onions - 2 medium

cauliflower - 1 small head

peas - 1 cup

green bell pepper - 1

carrot - 1

dinner rolls/dollar rolls - 4 per person or more

Butter - 2 sticks or more OR 150 g

salt to taste

1-2 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger and garlic

1-2 cups tomato puree or tomato sauce

Garnish -

finely chopped cilantro

Lemon wedges

finely chopped onion

Dry spice Mix -

1 Tbsp dhania seed or coariander seed

1 Tbsp jeera seed or cumin seeds

1 Tbsp amchur powder or dry mango powder

1 tsp sunth or dry ginger powder

1 tsp fennel seeds or saunf

2 large black cardamom

1 inch cinnamon

10 cloves

2 tsp black peppercorns

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 star anise

Method -

1) For the dry spice mix - Lightly roast the seeds without burning. Cool and powder in a spice grinder. Add the remaining powders and mix well. Transfer to an air tight jar.

This is cayenne or mirchi free and salt free, and lets you add the spice level without increasing the heat or making the dish too salty.

2) Boil the potatoes, peel, mash and set aside.

3) Chop onions and tomatoes. Chop the cauliflower florets in a food processor until they are almost a fine powder, or grate them. Thaw the peas and puree them in the food processor.

Grate the carrot. Chop the green pepper also in the food processor. Set these aside seperately.
4) Heat oil in a heavy bottomed skillet. Use veg or canola oil.

5) Add the chopped onions and saut them until soft. Add the ginger and garlic. Make sure it does not burn or stick.

6) Add the chopped tomatoes and keep frying until the oil leaves the sides.

7) Seasoning method - This dish has a lot of layers, and a Big yield. So I always season in layers or 'as I go'. I add a little salt and the Pav Bhaji Masala after every vegetable I add. This makes sure that the veggies cook in the spices and take on an intense flavor.

8) generally my quick method for this is to pressure cook all veggies together, and then dumo them in the onion tomato masala we fried earlier. But as I said, this time I am following the street method, and the slightly slower method. It makes a HUGE difference taste wise.

9) Add carrots to the onion tomato mixture in the wok. Season with a little salt and pav bhaji masala. Add a dab of butter.

10) Fry the carrots for a few minutes until they soften. Use a masher to mash everything together. Add the grated cauliflower.

11) Repeat above steps. Add seasonings and butter. Let it cook until the cauliflower gets incorporated into the whole mixture. Keep mashing periodically.

12) Add the green peas and green pepper now. Again add seasonings and butter. Mix well and stir together. Mash periodically.

13) Add the mashed potaotes now. Use the masher to mix it all together. Check seasonings. Add some more butter.

14) Add the tomato sauce or tomato puree. Check all seasonings and add enough salt, cayenne and spice mix to your taste.

15) Heat some butter in a pan. Lightly toast the dinner rolls or bread in the pan in the butter.

16) To serve - Dish up the bhaji or vegetable in a bowl. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top. Add chopped onions and cilantro. Dig in!!

Additional Method -

If you have ever seen a pav bhaji stall or 'thela', you know they have this really big griddle on which the bhaji is already made. TO serve the bhaji, they heat some butter in the center, add spices, and add a ladle or two of the veggie mix. They add some water ( and red color too), and mix it all up before serving.

I used this method at home this time. Even though time consuming, it lets you customize a lot. You can have a base bhaji version that is mildly spiced and then you can add as much butter as needed for a person, and spices to taste. This is also a good way to extend it or thin it out for more number of people.

The above recipe easily yields 10-12 large servings.

Pav Bhaji is a popular street food and is a must try at home.

Misal Pav - Hot and Spicy Street Food

This blog was started with the aim of posting some cherished family and regional maharashtrian recipes, both easy and complicated, regular weekday ones or delicacies. But a lot of the stuff we eat at home is so simple and 'automatic' that I think its not a big deal posting it. Like, who wants to see a recipe for alu subji or dal chawal? ( I know thats not true).

Misal Pav or Pav Sample or kolhapuri misal as it is called, is a very popular and ubiquitous street food in western Maharashtra, sometimes termed as 'poor man's food' that is hot and spicy and guaranteed to have smoke coming out of your ears. But it has enough of a wow factor that I feel I should write a post about it. I have been wanting to make this at home for a long time, and the historic India - Pak world cup semi-final provided a perfect opportunity. This dish is assembled with several ingredients, many of them store bought. You just make the 'sample' which is a hot soup or stock kind thing and the Moth or Matki usal. This can be made in advance, and you just heat it up before eating.

The recipe given below is simple, and the biggest challenge for me was to add as much chili or mirchi powder, and the HUGE amount of oil. But in the end, everything balances out really well. There IS some residual heat in the end, and your mouth will be slightly on fire, but that is the whole point of eating this dish, just like a fiery bowl of chili, or it wouldn't really be Misal Pav.

The picture also shows the typical way it is served, in stainless steel plates, because thats how they dish it up in our very own Maharashtra!

Ingredients -

2 cups dry Matki or Moth beans

1-2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp turmeric powder optional

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

1 lemon juiced

1 medium potato

1 Tbsp jaggery/gur/brown sugar

4 cups+ Farsan or Mixture of choice

salt to taste

1 Tbsp and 1 cup oil

sliced white bread or pav or dinner rolls

For the Masala Paste -

8-10 dry red chillies

3-4 cloves garlic

1 inch piece ginger root

1 Tbsp black peppercorns

1 Tbsp cloves

1 Tbsp cinnamon pieces

2 Tbsp dry coconut powder/flakes unsweetened

1 Tbsp cumin or jeera powder

1 Tbsp coriander or dhania powder

2-3 cups sliced onion

For the garnish

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped tomato

1 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1 lemon quartered

2 Tbsp roasted peanuts optional

Method -

1) Matki or moth beans are crucial here and they need to be sprouted. If you live in India, you can easily get already sprouted matki at any street vendor's or even in a supermarket. In the US, big city stores such as in New Jersey might carry sprouted matki.

It is very easy to make sprouted matki at home. Here is the method and it can be applied for sprouting any beans such as Mung etc.

Soak the beans overnight or more until there is a break in the outer skin. Drain these and wrap in a damp towel or muslin cloth and put in a strainer or colander. Cover and put in a dark place. The seeds sprout in the next 12+ hours. This generally depends on the atmospheric temperature. In colder climates or in winter, it helps if you keep it inside an oven with just the light switched on overnight( the oven is NOT on here).

2) Generally, the matki beans could be part of the 'sample' or the 'soup', and the whole thing is very hot. I am making a milder version of the matki 'usal' and a very hot and spicy 'sample' or 'soup' or 'sauce'. This way everyone can add as many beans as they want, and then only take as much of the hot 'sample' as they can sustain.

3) To make the masala paste - Fry all the masala ingredients in a tsp of oil or spray until they are lightly browned. Fry the coconut very gently until it changes color, taking care to not burn it.

Saute the onions in some oil until they let out all water and are browned.

4) Grind all of the above together to make a thick, smooth paste. This should yield 1 to 2 cups of the paste.

5) Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok or saute pan. Add jeera or mustard seeds optionally or directly add 2 Tbsp of the masala paste above. Fry to incorporate into oil. Add water as needed to avoid sticking. Fry this until it changes color and is aromatic and the oil starts to leave the sides. This could take 10 mins.

6) Add some turneric and chopped cilantro leaves. Add cubed boiled potato, or if you add raw potato, you will need to fry the potato in this paste until half cooked before you add the matki or beans.

7) Add the matki, add salt and jaggery or brown sugar, 1 tsp cayenne. Mix everything and add a little, maybe half cup water and let it come to a boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the potato is cooked.

8) Keep this aside. This is regular 'matki usal' which can be made anytime and eaten with rice or roti.

9) Now to make the 'sample' - this is the challenging part since you really have to let go and add oil with abandon. Heat about 1 cup of oil in a thick bottomed sauce pan. I recommend a large one so that you have room to add more liquid and also it will contain the splatters.

10) As the oil heats, add all the remaining masala paste, and stir immediately, being very careful to keep your face turned away. You may even switch off the heat for a while during this.

Stir quickly and mix it all in the oil so that it becomes homogenous. You can add a little water at this point to cook the masala. Do Not add water to the hot oil until the paste is well mixed in.

11) Add 1 Tbsp cilantro leaves optionally. Adding a little cilantro or coriander leaf at this point gives a different aroma from that obtained from just a garnish.

12) Fry the paste until it gives out an aroma, and changes color a bit. Add a tsp cayenne pepper and salt to taste.

13) Add one litre plus of water creating a thick slurry. You can actually stretch this by adding even more water, and only the salt needs adjusting. Bring the slurry to a boil and simmer for 10 mins. Your 'sample' is ready. This is going to be very hot, and as it cools, there will be a thick layer of oil on top, since most of the rest is water and the oil floats to the top. You will actually not consume a lot of this oil, since this whole 'sample' or broth is so hot.

14) Now to serve the Misal - this dish is plated as shown in the picture. In a wide small plate, or even a shallow soup plate or cereal bowl, ladle some of the beans or 'matki usal'. Add the Farsan or mixture or hot mix - any brand of choice - on top. This is a dry mixture available in all Indian grocery stores, and several brands are readily available. Buy a milder version rather than a hot one.

15) So we have the bowl with the matki usal and the farsan layer on top. Add about half cup farsan. Ladle some sample on this, enough to wet everything but not until it swims. Garnish with raw chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and peanuts. Squeeze some lemon juice on top. Place this on a bigger plate. In a smaller bow, ladle some sample, ladling from the bottom up so that you don't get only the oil. Place this on the larger plate. Serve this with sliced white bread, yes white bread or dinner/dollar rolls.

16) If you eat only the sample, you will probably need to call the fire engine, but the way to eat it is to mix everything together, i.e the matki, farsan, onions, tomatoes etc. You can keep adding as much sample as you want to suit your spice tolerance. You can eat the bread in between to cool your tongue or it can also be dipped into the mixture.

17) In the end, the misal is definitely hot and spicy, but enjoyably so, and can be washed down with some ice cold sweet drink, or with loads of ice cream.

This Misal Pav is not only a popular street food but also a part of the cultural heritage of the state of Maharashtra. It is not as complicated as it looks, and the above ingredients can be stretched to make anything from 6-10 servings. You can refrigerate the usal and sample and heat it up just before serving. The other things just have to be assembled.

I hope you try this fiery dish and let me know how you did.